When I was in Class 13, something disgusting happened.

I used to believe that all my classmates had great integrity, because it is difficult to get admitted to YYHS. You had to outshine many other candidates in the highly competitive entrance exam to be granted membership. I was wrong.

It was a wet day, but it was only sprinkling occasionally. At dinnertime, I did not want to take my umbrella to the canteen. To my annoyance, one of my classmates, Felix, came to me and asked to borrow my umbrella. I reminded him politely that it was not necessary to use an umbrella, but he insisted. My umbrella not cheap, I did not want to loan it to him. It was a special present from one of my childhood buddies. Considering we were classmates, however, I weakened in the end and lent my umbrella to him.

This guy went to the canteen with my umbrella. By the time I was done with dining and was coming out of the building, it had started to bluster and bucket down. I tried to locate in the dining hordes the boy who had my umbrella. We could have shared it on the way back to the classroom, but Felix was nowhere to be found. I had no choice but to brave the slanting sheets of rain and rush back.

No sooner had I got back, drenched, than Felix returned, without my umbrella. Concerned, I asked him where my umbrella was. The guy explained that he had forgotten to bring it back. It was weird. I went on to ask him how he had managed to come back without my umbrella. He said that he had shared an umbrella with a friend of his. I suspected that he was lying but there was nothing I could do. I begged Felix to retrieve my precious umbrella the next day. I had a hunch that my umbrella and I might part company this time.

My worst fear was fulfilled. The next day, when I asked him for my umbrella, Felix said he had not found it anywhere in the canteen. I was all nuts. The guy was behaving as if nothing serious had occurred.

It was not until some days ago that I got to know the truth. I bumped into some of my ex-classmates from Class 13. While chatting, they spilt the beans about what had become of my beloved umbrella. According to them, the boy had seen my umbrella at Lost and Found in the canteen that day, but he would not bother to go and claim it. The confirmed suspicion left me speechless.

Felix “lost” my dear umbrella. Thus, the guy lost my trust. The price I paid helps me see what qualities he possesses.